Multiple buck laundry press



y F. BRECKENIQIDGE I v 2,441,184

MULTIPLE BUCK LAUNDRY PRESS Filed April 10, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 WITNESSES:

INVENTOR Hank Breckem'aye' ATTORN EY May 11, 1948.-

F. BRECKENRIDGE MULTIPLE BUCK LAUNDRY PRESS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 10, 1944 l N V E N TO R Rank 8recke/Ir/aye WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY Patented May ll 1948 :Erank Breckenridge, Mansfield, hio,-.assig*-nor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Bittsburgh, .Pa., a-corporation of Rcnns'ylvania Application April 10, 1944, Serial No. 530,359

2 .Glaims.

.1 My invention relates to laundry presses and has for an object to provide improved apparatus of this kind.

A further object of the invention is :to provide an improved Dresser having a motor-driven mechanism for mechanically engaging and disengaging the heated shoe and the buck, said mechanism providing for the swinging of the shoe out of registry with the buck in order to enable the operator to arrange the fabrics to be pressed upon the buck.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved domestic presser having a plurality of bucks of different configuration which are selectively operated to facilitate the pressing of flatwork and various forms of garments.

These and other objects are elfected by my invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims. taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is :a front view partly in elevation and partly in section of a domestic 'presser constructed and arranged in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view partly in section and partly in elevation looking from the plane 11-11 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in elevation .of a detail viewed from the plane III- 'III of Fig.1;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the shoe actuating mechanism shown in Fig. 2 with parts broken away for the sake of clearness;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a view of a detail shown in Figs. 4 to .6, inclusive; and

Fig. .8 is a section taken along the line VIII- VIII of Fig. 7.

Reference will now be had to the drawings wherein I haveelected to show my invention applied to a domestic presser including a frame structure, generally. indicated at 10, and including spaced upright end members II and I2 .of rigid construction, the upper portions of which may be connected by a pan structure l3. The lower ends of the upright members I l and I2 are tied together by a relatively rigid tie l4, anlntermediate portion of which defines a support for a shoe actuating mechanism, generally. indicated at and described in detail hereinafter.

A buck structure, generally indicated .at l 6, includes a shaft I! which is suitably .journaled in the upper portions of the upright members M and 112.. A bearing lfasecured to the upright member I l rotatably supports the shaft .11 sotha-t the bucklstructure l6 may be rotated. It will be understood that the opposite end of the buck structure 5 is also carried by a hearing (not shown) similar :to the hearing ;I 8 and fixed to the upper end of the upright member 12,. The puck structure includes a plurality of bucks w to 22, inclusive. which are of different configuration in order to racilitate the ironing of different pieces such as liatwork and complicated garments, for

example. dresses and mens shirts. The buck 4:9 may be. generally rectangular in configuration for the ironing of flatwor-k and the buck 21 may taper in a manner similar to the end of a conventional ironing board for the ironing of large tubular articles. The buck 22 may be shaped to fit the upper portion of 'mens shirts, and the buck .20 may be a relatively narrow buck for the single thickness ironing of sleeves. The buck sh-apes have not been shown in detail as the shapes are well understood to those skilled in the art.

The various bucks [9 to 22, inclusive, may

be selectively moved into pressing position bymanually rotating the buck structure l6. Inorder to properly position the selected buck, amindexing mechanism is employed which mechanism includes an index plate 23 secured to one end of the shaft 11 in any welt-understood manner. The plate 23 is provided with a plurality of recesses or notches 24 at its outer periphery and corresponding in number to the number of the bucks employed. A latch 25, pivoted as shown at 2-6 to the casing ID, has one of its ends normally disposed within one of the notches .24 for positiohing the buck structure 16. Theopposite end of the latch 25 is connected by means of a tension spring 21 to the casing Ifl and this spring biases the latch 25 intothe position shown in the drawing wherein its upper end is disposed iuone or the notches 24.

A rod 28 has a push plate 29 secured to one of its ends and the opposite end of the rod 2B is pivotally connected asshown at 3| to the latch 25. When it is desired to rotate the buck structure It, the push plate 29 maybe depressed for withdrawing the latch 25 from the notch 24, after which the buck structure is manually rotated until the proper buck is in' pressing position. The push plate 29 is then released and the parts are returned to the position shown in the drawing by the spring 2'1. Preferably. the push plate 29 is disposed'on thecasing 10 where it may be con- A conventional shoe 32 cooperates with the selected buck, the shoe 32 is movable by means of a handle 33 to a position out of registry with the buck as shown in broken lines in Fig. 2. Rearward movement of the shoe 32 is limited by a chain and tension spring assembly, indicated'at 31, one end of which is secured to the arm 34, and

the other end of which is attached to the frame structure I0 in any well-understood manner. During the movement of the shoe 32 just described it will be understood that the arm 34 and the'strap 35 attached thereto pivot about the eccentric 36. V

' After thefabrics are properly disposed upon the selected buck, the operator draws the shoe 32 into position in registry with the buck by means of the handle 33. The shoe actuating mechanism |5 is then operated in the manner described hereinafter and the eccentric 36 is rotated 180 for moving the arm 34 and shoe 32 downwardly into pressing engagement with the. buck. At the conclusion of the pressing operation, the mechanism 'is again-operated and the eccentric is again operated 180 for disengaging the shoe 32 from the fabrics on the buck. The shoe is then moved by means of the handle 33 to its position out of registry with the buck in order to permit the operator to remove the pressed garment. The shoe actuating mechanism I5 will now be described.

1 'As best shown in Figs. 4 to 8, inclusive, the shoe actuating mechanism l5 includes a housing 4| whichsupports' an electric motor, shown at 42, thedriving shaft 43 of which carries a pinion 44.

The latter meshes with a gear 45 which is fixed to a shaft 46, suitably journaled in the housing 4| in any well understood manner. A worm 41 is carried; by the shaft 46 and meshes with the worm whee'l 43 which loosely runs upon a shaft 49 which is also suitably journaled in the housing 4|. The 'outer'end of theshaft49 is fixed to the eccentric 36 referred to heretofore.

Arranged on one face of the worm wheel 48, is

an annular wall 5| having one or more notches 52 formed therein. A circular disk 53 which is keyed to the shaft 49, as shown at 54, is'ar'ranged ,within the annular wall 5| and includes a recess 55'extending radially to its periphery. Within the recess '55, a dog 56 is slidably arranged and 'biasedoutwardly by means of a fiat spring 51, one end of -which engages the dog 56, as best shown in Fig. '7, and the opposite end 58 of which is secured to the plate 53 within an extension 5512 of the recess 55. This construction is best shown in Figs. 7 and 8. The dog 56 carries a pin 59 which operates to move the dog 56 inwardly against the bias of the spring 51 as described hereinafter.

Normally the dog 56 is held inwardly as shown in Fig. 6 so that the worm wheel 48 is free to turn on the shaft 49 during operation of the motor 42.- The dog 56 is held inwardly at this time by a cam plate 6|, bestshown in Figs. 4 and 6, which plate 6| is carried by rods 62, slidably mounted in the housing 4| and biased to the position shown in the drawing by compression springs 63. The cam plate 6| includes two cams 64 and 65 arranged apart and in planes which are intersected by the pin 59 when the latter is rotated bythe shaft 49. In the position of the plate 6|, shown in Fig. 6, the pin 59 engages the undersurface of the cam 64 and holds the dog 56 inwardly against the bias of the spring 51.

In order to clutch the rotating worm wheel 48 and the disk 53, the plate 6| is moved to the left, in a manner to be described, sufficiently to move the cam 64 out of engagement with the pin 59 whereupon the spring 5! moves the dog 56 outwardly within one of the recesses 52. A driving connection is, therefore, established between the wall 5| of the rotating worm wheel 48 and the disk 53 so that the shaft 49 and disk 53 will rotate with the worm wheel 48. During downward movement of the pin 59 in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 4) the plate 6| is returned to the position shown in the drawing by the spring 63, as described hereinafter. Accordingly, as the pin 59 approaches its lowermost position, it engages the cam 65 and rides therealong until its total movement approximates 180". As the pin 59 rides along the cam 65 it moves inwardly of the disk 53 and disconnects the dog 56 from the Wall 5| when the pin 59 has been moved 180 from its former position. Rotation of the disk 53 and shaft 49 is, therefore, terminated. The next time the plate 6| is actuated, the cam 65 releases the pin 59 and clutches the dog 56 and wall 5|. The disk 53 and shaft 49 are rotated 180 or until the pin 59 is arrested by the cam 64, which operation withdraws the dog 56 from the recess 52 in the wall 5|. Accordingly, rotation of the disk 53 and shaft 49 is stopped. The disk 53,-shaft 49 and the eccentric 36 are moved 180 each time the plate 6| is actuated, as described. The 180 movement of the eccentric 36 either engages or disengages the shoe 32 and the buck registering therewith.

The axes of the shafts 49 and I? are disposed in a line normal to the surface of the buck selected for operation and intersecting the center of said buck in order that substantially all of the force provided by the eccentric is normal to the surface of the buck with no component of the force acting to move the shoe 32 along the buck during engagement of these members. The line of force provided by the eccentric during engagement of the shoe and buck passes through the axis of the shaft so that there is no turning movement effective to rotate the buck structure l6 in its bearings l8.

The cam plate 6| is actuated by the operator at will by a mechanism including a foot treadle 66, pivoted at 61, to the frame I0 and the free end of which is pivoted to a bell crank lever 68. The latter is pivotally carried by the casing 4| and engages a collar 69 fixed to the outer end of the rods 62. 'When the operator momentarily depresses the foot treadle 66, the rods 62 are moved to the left against the bias of the springs 63 by means of the bell crank lever 68. A 180 movement of the eccentric 36 results, as described heretofore, and the shoe is actuated. It will be understood that. the: operator depresses the treadle 66 momentarily in actuatin the shoe, that is, the treadle .66 is depressed and immediately released. This operation withdraws the cam 64 from the pin 59 andimmediately positions the cam 65 in the path of the pin 59 before the shaft 49 and eccentric 36- have completed 180 of movement. If the shoe is disengaged from'the'buck, as shown, the described actuation 'of the treadle 66 engages the shoe and buck.

of the operator.

The next actuation of the treadle '66 will disengage the shoe and buck as will be apparent.

In operating the press, the operator sits at the front of the machine where the treadle 66 may be readily actuated by the foot and where the push plate 29 may be moved by the leg or knee The switch, controlling energization of the motor 42 and the heating element (not shown) of the shoe 32, may be arranged on the frame in any convenient location such as, for example, on the front side of the upright 12 as shown at H. The operator collects the flatwork and actuates the flatwork buck 19 to its pressing position, as described. After the pressing of the flatwork is completed, tubular garments may be ironed and the buck 2| employed for this operation. The shirts are pressed on the shirt buck 22 and the sleeves thereof and small tubular garments are pressed on the narrow buck 20.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that I have provided an improved operating mechanism for the shoe of a pressin machine wherein the pressure between the shoe and buck is mechanically applied and which mechanism permits actuation of the shoe into and out of registry with the buck. The shoe actuating mechanism may be applied to machines having one or more bucks but is particularly adaptable to a multiple-buck machine of the turret type, as disclosed herein, since the shoe may be moved laterally with respect to the buck sufficiently to permit manual adjustment of the buck structure without danger of burning or other injury to the operator. The multiple-buck structure which I have disclosed may lbe readily actuated to its selective positions by the operator from a seated position, the control element for positioning the buck structure being conveniently disposed adjacent the leg of the operator,

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a laundry press, the combination of a frame, a turret like buck structure having a shaft journaled in the frame and a plurality of bucks circumferentially spaced about said shaft, said buck structure being manually movable to a plurality of positions for selectively disposing the bucks in pressing position, a shoe cooperating with the buck selected for operation and having a. rigid unitary supporting bracket fixed at one of its ends to the shoe and extending rearwardly and downwardly therefrom, an eccentric journaled in the lower end of the shoe-supporting bracket for sup-porting the bracket and for actuating the shoe into and out of engagement with the selected buck, means including a second shaft for rotating the eccentric in steps of for alternatively moving the shoe into and out of engagement with the selected buck, said first and second shafts having their axes disposed in a plane intersecting substantially the center of the selected buck and normal to the surface thereof, and means for swinging the shoe and its supporting bracket about the eccentric to a position out of registry with the selected buck to facilitate the arrangement of fabrics to be pressed upon said buck.

2. In a laundry press, the combination of a frame, a turret like buck structure journaled in the frame and having a plurality of bucks circumferentially spaced about the axis of the buck structure, said buck structure being manually movable about said, axis to a plurality of positions for selectively disposing the bucks in pressing position, a shoe cooperatin with the buck selected for operation and having a rigid unitary supporting bracket fixed at one of its ends to the shoe and extending rearwardly and downwardly therefrom, an eccentric journaled in the lower end of the shoe supporting bracket for supporting the bracket and for actuating the shoe into and out of engagement with the selected buck, means including a shaft for moving the eccentric to first and second positions for alternatively actuating the shoe into and out of engagement with the selected buck, said axis of the turret like buck structure and the axis of said shaft being disposed in a plane intersecting substantially the center of the selected buck and generally normal to the surface thereof, and means for swinging the shoe and its supporting bracket about the eccentric to a position out of registry with the selected buck to facilitate the arrangement of fabrics to be pressed upon said buck.

FRANK BRECKENRIDGE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,131,493 Dunbar et a1 Mar. 9, 1915 1,228,834 Schoenky June 5, 1917 1,602,970 Fiskow Oct. 12, 1926 1,748,539 Clarke Feb. 25, 1930 1,815,783 Ledbetter July 21, 1931 1,922,052 Lerbetter -Aug. 15, 1933 

